2/5/09

We like most of his movies. Arnon Milchan, number 358 on the Forbes billionaire list, won't have to change his lifestyle because of his loss in the Madoff debacle. And he's not on today's laundry list of losers, as Portfolio explains. But we think that he is the most interesting new victim.

Pretty Woman producer Arnon Milchan lost $18 million to confessed fraudster Bernard Madoff, Condé Nast Portfolio has learned. But you won’t find him on the victims list released in court today. What other victims aren't there?

Movie producer Arnon Milchan is among the victims missing from court documents naming hundreds of Madoff Investments LLC clients. The list was filed in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan today.

The names of thousands of Bernard Madoff’s apparent clients were made public late Wednesday in a 162-page filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. But not everybody who lost money in the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is on the list.

One name not in the filing is movie producer Arnon Milchan's. Condé Nast Portfolio has learned that the Israel-born billionaire, whose film credits include Pretty Woman and Fight Club, lost at least $18 million with Madoff. In a story due out in its upcoming March issue, Condé Nast Portfolio reveals Milchan’s name and shows how Madoff made inroads into the entertainment industry.

Last year, Milchan was ranked No. 358 on Forbes magazine's billionaires list, which noted that he had enjoyed "a stellar year" due to savvy currency trades and unlikely blockbusters produced by his company, New Regency. Notably, the 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks, which New Regency made for $70 million, grossed $358 million worldwide.

According to Forbes, Milchan celebrated that windfall by jumping off the 709-foot-tall Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa, the world's highest commercially operated bungee jump...more..